Speaking at the opening of a workshop on Friday, Tapan Chowdhury said inter-ministerial meetings are being held to discuss the issue. "And it (the policy) will be finalised soon after necessary consultations with experts."

The two-day training workshop on energy reporting for Dinajpur-based journalists was organised by the Weekly Economic Times at Savar in Dhaka, says a press release.

Presided over by Economic Times Editor Shaukat Mahmood, the inaugural session was also attended, among others, by Amar Desh Advisory Editor Ataus Samad, Jugantor Editor Golam Sarwar and RTV Chief News Editor Syed Ishtiaq Reza.

The adviser said there will be no separate policy for coal rather coal issue will be incorporated in the comprehensive energy policy since coal is one of the sources of energy.

He spoke on the much-talked-about issue of coal-extraction methods, but did not make any comment whether the government prefers open-pit or underground mining methods at Fulbari coalmine.

"We've experts in our country. Let's talk to them and decide which one is better for us," he said.

He, however, referred to the recent death incident of a British mining consultant at Barapukura and frequent death incidents in China in underground exploration.

He said production through underground exploration is also low compared to that by open-pit extraction.

Chwodhury said open-pit exploration displaces people of the mine area but not permanently; the ditches created for exploration can be refilled after completion of exploration and the land can be handed over again to owners.

The adviser urged the journalists to focus on positive issues besides the negative ones.